"Grenin—!"
Greninja's lean figure burst forward, streaking across the field like a bolt of lightning and reappearing directly behind Slowbro.
"One Thousand Years of Death!!"
Pfft—
At a bizarre angle, Greninja lunged in, both hands shrouded in dark, smoky energy as it drove them forward.
Thud!
"Slowbroooooo!!!"
A cry rang out across the entire Pokémon Battle Arena—half tragic, half weirdly satisfying.
Slowbro clutched its backside with both hands and collapsed limply onto the icy battlefield.
Its once-blank, dopey eyes now stared bitterly at the ceiling, as if silently condemning that dishonorable frog.
How could it ambush someone like that!?
Unforgivable.
It hated that frog.
And in this moment, it hated the world too.
It was still just a child—why did it have to suffer something so cruel!?
Slowly… very slowly… its eyes closed.
And it lost the ability to battle.
...
This happened just moments after Sebastian's Archeops had been taken out by Blaziken.
The stands erupted once more.
Victor was so pumped he nearly shot to his feet, turning excitedly to Simon.
"Bro—did you see that?!"
"Aaron's Greninja is still that strong. That's insane!"
A faint smile tugged at Simon's lips.
Sebastian's humiliating defeat had already been satisfying enough. Now, watching Aaron claim the first win only made it better.
Simon gave a small nod.
"Bringing Aaron in was absolutely the right call."
"Exactly! And look at that idiot Sebastian—running his mouth like he was unbeatable…"
"And now he got crushed back-to-back. What a joke."
Victor sneered openly, feeling completely vindicated.
"Just a clown."
Simon glanced down at Sebastian with open disdain and said flatly.
...
On the battlefield, Sebastian's face was as dark as a thunderhead, sweat trickling down his temples.
Two of his Pokémon were already out.
He was finished.
"Slowbro…"
A pained cry rang out nearby. Sebastian snapped his head toward the sound—
just in time to watch Greninja finish off Slowbro as well.
His expression twisted.
"This brat…"
"I may have lost… but you're not winning either!!"
Rage and resentment churned inside him. At this point, he didn't even care about victory anymore—he just wanted Aaron to go down with him, to claw back even a shred of dignity.
Nathan had already taken note of Aaron's Greninja.
Watching it defeat Slowbro, his expression didn't change in the slightest.
Because he knew—
Blaziken, as it stood now, was untouchable.
Its Speed Boost had stacked to the limit.
And Greninja was only an Advanced Pokémon.
There was no way it could win.
In Nathan's eyes, Aaron was nothing more than a cornered fighter making a last, desperate struggle.
"Return, Slowbro!"
Emma withdrew her furious Slowbro in a flash of red light. Without hesitation, she pulled out another Poké Ball and hurled it forward.
"Come out—Exeggutor!"
A burst of light erupted on the field.
A tall, coconut-tree-like Pokémon with three round heads took shape in the arena.
"Exeggutor…"
All three heads turned toward Greninja, letting out a low, layered cry.
A sharp glint flickered in Aaron's eyes as Exeggutor's status panel appeared before him.
[Name: Exeggutor]
[Gender: Female]
[Nature: Careful]
[Type: Grass, Psychic]
[Ability: Chlorophyll]
[Base Stats Total: 530]
[Level: Elite (Early Stage)]
[Pokémon Potential: Champion-Class]
[Known Moves: Stomp (Proficient), Psi (Mastery), Hypnosis (Mastery), Seed Bomb (Proficient), Psychic (Proficient), Egg Bomb (Proficient), Wood Hammer (Proficient), Barrage (Proficient), Light Screen, Reflect...]
[Description: Exeggutor, Coconut Pokémon, evolved form of Exeggcute. Dubbed a walking tropical rainforest, its three heads possess three distinct consciousnesses...]
...
This Exeggutor's potential wasn't particularly impressive—only Champion-Class—but it still possessed Elite (Early Stage) strength.
It had even been taught two particularly annoying TM moves: Light Screen and Reflect.
Clearly, it had been trained as a support Pokémon.
"Exeggutor—use Seed Bomb!"
Even after losing one Pokémon, Emma's fighting spirit didn't waver in the slightest as she gave the command.
"Exeggutor—!"
The three heads let out a slightly goofy cry.
The middle head spat out a glowing green Seed Bomb, launching it straight at Greninja.
"Greninja—dodge!"
"Then Ice Punch."
Aaron's tone remained calm.
"Ninja."
Greninja sidestepped with fluid precision.
Boom!
The ground where it had stood erupted into a crater as dirt blasted outward in every direction.
Ice-blue energy surged around Greninja's right fist, frost rapidly crystallizing across its knuckles.
A black streak flashed across the field.
Greninja was already right in front of Exeggutor.
After using Quick Attack, its speed had sharply increased.
That freezing punch was about to land—
"Exeggutor—Reflect!!"
Emma's pupils tightened as she shouted.
"Exeggutor!"
In urgency, purple energy surged outward, forming a translucent violet barrier in front of it.
Greninja's Ice Punch crashed into Reflect.
The impact rippled through the barrier, the force noticeably diminished.
Reflect halved the damage from physical attacks.
Even so—
Bang!
The Ice Punch still struck Exeggutor's body.
"Exeggutor—!"
It staggered back several steps, its expression twisting in pain.
A super-effective Ice-type hit was no joke. Reflect or not, it still dealt serious damage.
...